Steele Family Newsletter

Click the headline above to see the calendar for all of the District #205 schools. This will help you stay up-to-date on days off, early release days and much more.

Dear Steele School Families,

We are excited to share some updates as we begin Week 3 of the school year!

This past week, we built excitement around our first Good Behavior incentive of the year, which will take place this Friday. Students will get the chance to enjoy chalk drawing on the sidewalks—a fun way to celebrate positive choices. During Friday’s assembly, we will also recognize our Students of the Month, who have gone above and beyond in showing kindness to others.

This week will also wrap up our beginning-of-the-year benchmarking assessments. These assessments help us understand how each student is performing in reading and math. We will share this information with you during Parent-Teacher Conferences in October so that together, we can support your child’s growth.

We would also like to ask for your help in supporting our schoolwide expectations. Please take a moment to talk with your child about the difference between home rules and school rules. Because of the number of students we have, we do not allow physical responses such as hitting—even if someone else hits first. There is always an adult nearby to help with conflict, and our top priority is safety for all students. We also know that children at this age are still learning coping strategies, how to build friendships, and how to resolve conflicts in positive ways.

Thank you for your continued support in helping our students learn, grow, and thrive. We are looking forward to another great week together!

Warmly,

Mrs. Coate
Principal, Steele School

We are excited to invite a Very Important Person to join a student as their special guest for breakfast at Steele Elementary School. You must sign up ahead of time in order for us to order the food.

When: September 8, 2025 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM

Where: Steele Cafeteria

Parking: Since we will have more cars here than usual, you will need to utilize the streets around the school for parking. Spaces will be limited in the parking lots and the circle drive will be used for bus drop off.

Adults will get a visitor sticker to wear while they are at the school. Once you get your food, you can stay in the cafeteria or bring it to the playground for a picnic. At 8:50 AM, we allow all students to go to their classroom. You can walk your child to their room and then say your goodbyes if you wish. All visitors must be out of the building by 9:00 AM at the start of our school day.

Attached below are the sign up sheets in all of the languages at our school. Please return by this Friday, Aug. 29th.

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VIP Breakfast Invitation.pdf

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1.4 MB

STUDENT COUNCIL ADVISORS

Mrs. Weedman Mrs. Shinn

JOB DESCRIPTION

Members of Steele Student Council will help with school spirit activities, promote involvement in community service donation days, and assist with other possible leadership opportunities throughout the school year. Student Council Members will be expected to lead by example and promote kindness, respect, confidence, perseverance, and responsibility amongst peers. Student Council Members will be required to attend bi-weekly meetings. Meetings will be every other Monday throughout the school year, 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.

SELECTION

2 students per each 3rd-4th grade classroom
Application answers will be anonymously posted or read aloud to the class and students will get to vote for two applicants

QUALIFICATIONS TO APPLY FOR STUDENT COUNCIL:

A student who would like to be on Student Council must:

Demonstrate leadership ability (participate in class, communicate effectively, and be creative)
Demonstrate good citizenship and get along with everyone
Maintain good grades
Complete the application, have a parent sign the application, and obtain one staff recommendation

Application is attached below.

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25-26 Steele Student Council .pdf

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136.5 KB

Please download the Galesburg App. When you receive your invitation email, then you can sign up for messaging. All staff will use this for communication this school year. Once you have the app downloaded, you will see your child's teacher and information in the app.

If you haven't received an email or text, you can reach out to the office to get a code. If you are having trouble connecting, please contact our main office at 309-973-2016

The Shine in #205 program is a way for you to salute any CUSD #205 employee who goes above and beyond what is expected. Whether you are a parent/guardian impressed with that special touch your student's teacher added to a moment, a coworker who thinks their colleague doesn't hear often enough about the great job they are doing, or a community member who witnessed a staff member's commitment to students-you can submit a Shine nomination!

Link to nominate a staff member

When we have a heat advisory/warning, we will keep the students inside for recess. This happened this afternoon (Friday, 8/15) when the real feel temperatures were above 100 degrees. Students are allowed to bring water bottles to school. They can fill them up at the drinking fountains as well. Teachers will have specific guidelines for where the water bottles are kept (counter, desk, locker, etc.)

Each month students will focus on monthly themes . Teachers will provide explicit, direct skill instruction in these areas so that our school community as a whole becomes stronger. The month of August is our Kindness Kick off! Below is a video for a calming strategy that we teach all of the students at Steele. You can practice it at home as well.